Since Mansour’s arrival, City have won two Premier League titles, in 2012 and 2014, as well as the 2011 FA Cup and this year’s League Cup.

Manchester City also have a stake in Australia’s A-League after the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners purchased and re-branded Melbourne Heart as Melbourne City early this year.

“We are looking forward, once again, to being a part of the tournament,” Ferran Soriano, chief executive of Manchester City, said in a statement.

“We are particularly excited to be visiting Melbourne, which is home to our sister club, Melbourne City.”

With the securing of Real Madrid and Manchester City’s huge box-office appeal, organisers are hoping to build on the local appetite for top European clubs after a crowd of 95,000 watched English Premier League Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Australia’s Melbourne Victory at the MCG last year.

Ten-time European champions Real Madrid were named FIFA’s Club of the 20th Century and are worth an estimated 500 million euros ($618 million). (AFP)